The present invention relates to a snap action ball valve assembly, and more particularly to a spring-controlled snap action ball valve assembly and the use of the valve assembly in apparatus for dispensing liquids, preferably pressurized liquids. Still more particularly, the valve assembly of the present invention is well suited for use in toy water guns and especially toy water guns in which the water is air-pressurized or is pressurized by the elastic force of an elastic bladder. The valve assembly of the present invention has open and closed valve positions in which the valve is switchable substantially instantaneously upon appropriate activation from a closed position to an open position and from an open position to a closed position.
There are a large number of different valve structures used to control the flow of liquid in all types of apparatus. Some valves allow different flow volumes by allowing the user to control the extent to which a valve opens and closes. Other valves are full open or full closed. The valve assembly of the present invention is of the latter type. The valve assembly can be used in all types of applications, particularly where control of pressurized liquids, that is, the flow of the liquid is controlled by a motive force, such as a pump, by air pressure or an elastic bladder. The present invention will be described with respect to its use in toy water guns.
Water guns for decades have been very popular toys. The most traditional form of water gun is a single stroke water gun that uses a small pump within the housing of the water gun to pump a small amount of water from water contained in the housing through various conduits connected to a nozzle at the front of the water gun where each pull of a trigger activates a pump stroke to shoot one small stream of water at a time from the water gun. These water guns are limited in the distance the water travels, the amount of water projected and the duration of the pumping cycle. In some instances, battery-operated motors activate the pumps when a trigger is depressed, but such battery-operated water guns still typically are subject to the same problems as the fully manually operable water guns. The primary advantage of battery operated water guns is that they are capable of rapid fire pump strokes based on the operation of the motor, or in some instances, a continuous pump action by which the battery-operated motor is activated for as long as the trigger is depressed. In both of the single stroke and battery operated water guns, the conduit leading from the pump to the nozzle typically is not controlled by any valve, since a valve is not necessary because the water is only being forced through the gun by the action of each individual pump stroke or by the activation of the pump motor.
In an attempt to improve upon water guns, so as to increase the distance the water travels when shot from the gun and to increase the duration of the time of an individual stream of water being shot, the toy industry has developed pressurized water guns which work on the principle of the pressure differential between the water in the water gun and atmospheric pressure. In pressurized water guns, water in the water gun is at a pressure higher than the pressure of the ambient atmosphere. As a result, when the water within the water gun is open to the atmosphere, typically by opening a valve in a conduit between the source of pressurized water and a nozzle, the water will stream out of the water gun under pressure. Thus, the use of a valve to release water to the nozzle is essential in pressurized water guns. There are two general types of pressurized water guns.
A first type of pressurized water gun traps water in a collapsible area where, as the collapsible area expands, a force is created on the water, such as by an elastic bladder. The collapsible area or bladder is filled with water under pressure, such as from a municipal water source or by pumping the water from a reservoir, using a remotely located pump or a pump contained on the water gun. During the fill cycle and until the water is desired to be shot, a valve between the pressurized water source and the nozzle is closed so that the water cannot escape from the water gun. When it is desired to shoot water from the gun, the valve is opened, typically by an actuator connected to a trigger, so that as the collapsible area is collapsed or as the elastic bladder contracts to its pre-expanded size, water is expelled from the gun under pressure. Typical of these types of water guns are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,070, 4,735,239 and 4,854,480, as well as several SUPER SOAKER(copyright) CPS(trademark) bladder-type water guns sold by Larami Limited. These types of water guns generally provide a constant pressure for the water being shot from the guns until the supply of water within the bladder is effectively exhausted. Various embodiments of the Larami Limited types of water guns are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,800, in which the bladder is charged from a water reservoir mounted on the water gun with a hand pump also located on the water gun. U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,619 is an example of a water gun in which bladders are contained in a backpack that can be filled by a quick charging device using water from a municipal water source. The hand-held component in this product in essence is an assembly comprising a trigger-activated valve and a nozzle through which a stream of water is dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,925 discloses another type of bladder of water gun in which water used to fill a bladder may be pumped from a water tank in which the water tank and pump are located on or in the housing of the water gun, and also from a municipal water source using a quick charge device.
The other general type of pressurized water gun uses air pressure to force water through a nozzle. The air is pressurized using a pump that can be remote from the hand-held water gun or on or in the housing of the hand-held water gun. As with the first type of water guns, the water is shot from the guns by using a trigger actuator to open a release valve located between the pressurized water source and the nozzle. An example of a device using a remote pump is U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,674. Another example of a water gun using both an on-board water tank and air pump is U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,437, typical of Larami Limited""s original SUPER SOAKER(copyright) water guns exemplified by the SUPER SOAKER(copyright) 50 model water gun.
Other water guns in the air pressurized category operate under the principle disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 35,412 and 5,322,191, by which water from an unpressurized source, such as a pool of water or a vented water tank that may be mounted on the water gun, may be pumped by a pump that likewise may be mounted on the water gun to a pressurized tank initially containing air. As the water is pumped from the vented water tank to the pressurized tank, the air in the pressurized tank is compressed, providing a motive force for the water, which is shot from the gun upon opening of a trigger-controlled release valve. U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,871 discloses a toy water gun in which the source of water in a pressurized tank is from an external water supply, such as a municipal water supply. A quick charging device allows water from the municipal water supply to fill a pressurized tank initially containing air such that the air is compressed and acts as a motive force to eject water from the gun upon opening of a trigger-controlled release valve. In the water gun disclosed in this patent, an air pump mounted within the housing of the water gun is used to pump additional compressed air into the air pressure water tank so that there will be enough compressed air to expel substantially all of the water from the pressurized tank.
With all of the air pressurized water guns, the duration and distance of the stream of water being shot from the water guns are based on the amount and pressure of the air used as the motive force. When the pressure of the air used as a motive force for the water reaches the pressure of the ambient atmosphere, water is no longer propelled from the guns.
The pressurized water guns produced commercially and disclosed in patents use various types of valves to release the water to the nozzle. Typical are pinch valves, in which a flexible conduit is pinched by a spring-controlled clamp to close the water pathway and in which pulling the trigger opens the clamp. Water guns also often use plug valves, in which a plug is retained by a spring in a valve seat when the valve is closed. Upon actuation of the trigger, the valve is pulled or in some instances pushed away from the valve seat, to allow water to be shot from the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,987 discloses an improved release valve structure and mechanism by which a linkage from the trigger is connected by a delay spring to a valve, typically a plug valve, wherein the valve housing allows water pressure to build up behind the valve before it is opened. Based on this mechanism, when the force of the water pressure and the delay spring is overcome when the trigger is pulled, a burst of water is released from the water gun. Upon releasing pressure on the trigger, the valve closes until it is desired to release another burst of water upon depressing the trigger again. The trigger can remain depressed as long as desired and as long as there is an adequate source of motive force, such as by air pressure or in other embodiments, by pressure from an elastic bladder, water will be expelled from the gun.
The controlled flow, bursting water gun release mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,987 was an improvement over prior types of release valves. However, even with this release valve, and to a greater extent in the prior valves like the pinch valves, there is a drop off of pressure upon opening and just before closing the valve that is not directed to usefully expelling water from the guns with the full pressure force. Also, these type of water guns have the flow of water through the guns and especially in and around the valves subjected to turbulence created by the water flow path in the valve and in the connection between the conduit from the pressurized water supply to the valve. The drop off in pressure occurs due to the slight delay between the full opening and the final closing of the valve. As the pressure drops off, there is less pressure available to provide a motive force for the water being shot from the gun. Moreover, because of the structure of many release valves, there is not a direct flow path of water through the release valve, which causes turbulence, which adversely affects the flow of water through the valve and out the nozzle. The turbulence increases as the size of the release valve increases. With the trend toward larger water guns, release valves and nozzles, to allow larger amounts of water to be shot from the water guns, increasing the play value, the pressure drop off and turbulence are becoming greater concerns, limiting the distance, duration or both of the water stream being shot from the water guns.
The spring-controlled snap action ball valve assembly of the present invention overcomes these concerns for toy water guns and for any other apparatus for dispensing pressurized liquid. Using this valve assembly of the present invention, turbulence and pressure changes that significantly adversely affect the flow of liquid to be dispensed from the apparatus are substantially eliminated. This provides the apparatus with a better controlled release of the liquid, for a longer distance and greater duration than if prior art valves were used for the pressurized dispensing apparatus. When used in the exemplified application of toy water guns, the snap action ball valve assembly of the present invention could be used effectively for all types of pressurized water guns or other type of pressurized liquid dispensers, whether they operate under the principle of air pressure or collapsible space, such as provided by an elastic bladder. Moreover, the valve assembly of the present invention has use in any kind of liquid dispensing apparatus whether the source of pressurized liquid is attached to or contained within the same housing as the housing containing the valve assembly or externally remote from such housing.
One aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing pressurized liquid, the apparatus comprising a connection to a source of pressurized liquid, a spring-controlled snap action ball valve assembly including a snap action ball valve, an inlet and an outlet, a conduit in fluid communication from the connection to the valve assembly inlet, a nozzle in fluid communication with the valve assembly outlet, and an actuator connected to the valve assembly to actuate the snap action ball valve from a closed position to an open position and from an open position to a closed position.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a spring-controlled snap action ball valve assembly comprising a valve housing with a flow path through the valve housing, the valve housing having an inlet and an outlet, a ball valve member having a channel therethrough and being rotatable within the valve housing, the channel having an inlet end and an outlet end and being aligned with the valve housing inlet and valve housing outlet in an open valve position and not being aligned with the valve housing inlet and valve housing outlet in a closed valve position, a liquid-tight seal adjacent each of the valve housing inlet and valve housing outlet and each bearing against the ball valve member, a shaft connected to the ball valve member and extending out of the valve housing to rotate the ball valve member in the valve housing, a ball lever having two ends and connected at one end to the shaft, a snap lever movable with respect to the ball lever, the snap lever being connected at least indirectly to the actuator, and a spring connecting the snap lever and the ball lever at a location spaced from the one end of the ball lever where the ball lever is connected to the shaft, the spring having a spring action, the spring action and the relative movement of the snap lever and the ball lever being interrelated such that movement of the actuator in a first direction causes the snap valve to move from a first snap lever position to a second snap lever position and thereby causing a first effectuation of the spring action, the first effectuation of the spring action in turn causing the ball lever to snap from a first ball lever position where the ball valve member is in the closed valve position to a second ball lever position where the ball valve member is in the open valve position, and the movement of the actuator in a second direction causes the snap valve to move from the second snap lever position to the first snap lever position, thereby causing a second effectuation of the spring action, the second effectuation of the spring action in turn causing the ball lever to snap from the second ball lever position where the ball valve is in the open valve position to the first ball lever position where the ball valve is in the closed valve position.